Cat's Says:
We went to go see this on our son, Jack Harper's, 12th Birthday. Since the character in the movie is named Jack Harper, we thought it would be the perfect movie for our son's day...since Tom Cruise is his favorite actor it was beyond perfect. I will start off the review by saying that I love Tom Cruise movies and Sci-Fi. I don't have a high expectation threshold for either. Pretty much give me some Aliens verses Humans, let the humans win without anyone important to the story dying and I'm happy. So I was thrilled when I found this story to be a lot deeper than expected. Sci-Fi does tend to have superficial stories so I was surprised to find that this one has many layers of story line.
Basically the story is about an Astronaut/Tech named Jack Harper who is working his last few weeks on Earth before moving to an off planet colony to join the rest of the humans. All that is left is the last draining of the oceans before moving on. Earth had been invaded by aliens 60 years before. They destroyed the moon creating natural destruction of the planet and so the humans had to be moved off planet. It is the job of Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) and his partner/lover Vica (Andrea Riseborough) to maintain the equipment that is draining the oceans and, specifically, the battle drones that are protecting the equipment from the aliens that want to destroy everything. But Jack has these strange dreams that haunt him about a woman and an Earth that existed a decade before he was born. Dreams that seem to come to life when he finds a downed ship and lifepods...one of which contains the woman who has been haunting his dreams. His world turns upside down from that moment on and nothing is what he thought it was or as it seems. There is a major twist right in the middle of all of this that completely turns this story right upside down on it's head.
The story is great, Cruise and Morgan Freeman make it fun to watch and the special effects are amazing. It earns the rating due to the battle scenes and one implied sexualized scene. I would say that this is good for kids 8 and over because of the complex story. Smaller kids may not be able to follow it well. I also give this a 9 out of 10. I want to go see it again in the theaters and we will own it as soon as it comes out on Blu-Ray. It really only loses one point because I wanted more backstory and character development on Freeman's character and his groups part in all of it. I have a feeling a bunch of that ended up on the cutting room floor to keep the film to just a bit over 2 hours.
Barbara Says:
Always a fan of Tom Cruise. He delivers a telling performance every time as far as I am concerned.
The basis of this movie was worth my time, but have to say it seemed a bit over long. If you are a person who reads a lot you can predict the story line pretty well. That is not to say I did not enjoy this film because I did. As a family I would say we all had a good time. After all,that is what we go to the movies for; to be entertained.
There was a lot of action and space craft with Aliens. All with a sweetener of a love story. It is most definitely a big screen movie. The evil Aliens come to take over the Earth and wage war. You are given the view of the aftermath of that war and the fate of humans in the year 2077.
So buy the popcorn and soda and get good seat. Fasten your seat belt for the space ride. For just a good afternoon spent in the future I give it an 8 out of 10.
Tory Says:
Let me start by saying that I am a Tom Cruise fan so already I thought I would probably like this film. I had seen the previews for this film and I felt they didn’t do it justice. There are all these different aspects to the film and all these little mysteries that I wasn’t expecting! My husband and I really enjoyed it!
Tom Cruise plays Jack Harper (Love the name!) who is one of the last people left on Earth after our moon was destroyed, a huge battle was fought and Earth is now basically a wasteland. I feel me saying any more than that will cause me to give away key plot points and I won’t do that!
I found the special effects flawless. It really made me feel like this world existed and not like Cruise was in front of a green screen. Part of the fun for me was that the Empire State Building is featured in a lot of the movie and having actually been there, I thought they did a fantastic job of it being “ruined.”
I felt the film kept me on my toes and always wondering what would happen next. I wasn’t expecting that at all. I thought this was just another sci-fi film and it is far from “run of the mill.” I do think it earns its PG-13 rating because there is violence, the “F” word is said once for effect but mostly because the storyline is probably too complex for the average child under 12. I happily give this an 8.5 out of 10 for great effects, great acting, good story and interesting concept. It felt a little long but I found myself craving just a little more “wrap up” at the end. I think even people who aren’t “sci-fi” fans will like this one!
No comments:
Post a Comment